Magic Jack

[What's next 1]

I read that you can bring the Magic Jack unit over seas and basically acts like a US phone#. All you would need is a computer and high speed internet connection. It's like 20 bucks a year. You can call Vietnam as if it was regular US phone number and vice versa. I'm not sure if they log calls for paperwork purposes, but I think it's a get way just to call. does anyone know more about this. I was reading it on magichack.com. I think it's pretty cool.

[lindal24 1]

I set it up at my grandma's & uncle's house...it works just like you described.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I sent one to Phuong last February, and she used it to call me, as well as family and friends in the US. When she left to come to the US, she gave the MagicJack to her daughter, and now her daughter calls her here in the US on the MagicJack. I even used it to call the US when I was in Vietnam. As long as you've got a decent internet connection, it works really well.

[Bob-KhaHan 1]

I'll be brining an Ooma device over to Vietnam to give to my fiancee's parents. That way they don't have to keep a computer powered on 24/7 and it only uses 5 watts of energy.

Here is something I posted on Amazon's website (for someone that said Ooma was too expensive in comparison to Magic Jack. since i was going back and forth between the two, i wanted to get the real numbers):

I calculated the typical cost (in MI) to keep a computer on to run Magic Jack and it would be about $85 - $120+ per year. Now since the Telo uses power, too, I calculated that the electricity cost would be $3.65 per year. If you used netbook for the magic jack, the energy cost would be about $14 - $20 per year, but you would have to add the extra $300 to buy a dedicated notebook. I am not sure if a notebook would be fast enough for the Magic Jack so if anyone wants to do this path, then they should research if this is feasible.

5 year cost comparison using lowest numbers ($85 energy cost for regular computer; $14 for netbook; Ooma supposedly has a $12 / year fee for taxes after the first year; $20 annual MJ fee):

$545 Magic Jack (regular computer)

$490 Magic Jack (netbook)

$296.25 Ooma

10 year costs (not including computer replacement costs)

$1070 Magic Jack (regular computer)

$660 Magic Jack (netbook)

$374.50 Ooma

If the netbook last 5 years (which is pretty long for this type of computer), then that means you'll have to buy another netbook for the 2nd half of that 10 year cost brining the 10 year cost to $960. Using a dedicated regular computer would cost a lot more, but if the computer wasn't a dedicated machine then I won't add those costs.

FYI: I don't have either of these services, but have been considering both. Doing these calculations just gave me a good idea which service has the lowest cost.

The rates in Vietnam are cheaper than in MI, so here are the yearly energy costs for Vietnam:

$65.70 MagicJack (regular computer)

$8.76 MagicJack (netbook)

$2.19 Ooma

5 year cost comparison (Vietnam)

$448.50 Magic Jack (regular computer)

$463.80 Magic Jack (netbook)

$367..20 Ooma

10 year cost comparison (Vietnam)

$877 Magic Jack (regular computer)

$607.60 Magic Jack (netbook)

$359.90 Ooma

Edited February 23, 2010 by Bob-KhaHan

[Tuanv 2]

I am impressed with Ooma. It seems a lot better than magic jack.

[BinhJerome 14]

I like the break down of cost, however you only need the computer on to make or recieve calls, so in theory the computer does not need to be on all the time. If you are using the phone to call the US from Vietnam, you could simply turn it on or off, and the majic jack has voice mail that is sent to your email, so if you turned off the computer and lets say you only turned it on on the weekend to call family back home you could check all your voice mails and call people back. I am taking my majic jack to Vietnam when I go, and my computer will never be on 24 hours a day. Also if you had a deadicated netbook that was only used for the majic jack, then I would hope it would last many years, also I would bet that majic jack is looking into technology that would allow their unit to work without a computer and I would bet that within the next 2 or 3 years they will have it, and even if it is an expensive one time purchase it might be worth it. I think Ooma sounds like a great alternative to any phone service, but can it be taken with you on trips all over the world and work like the majic jack? and how does the Ooma work? great post Bob. Jeroem

[BinhJerome 14]

I just read up on the Ooma, they charge $119 a year or $9 a month, with this cost figured in the voice quality would be the same between majic jack and Ooma since they are using the same internet, so ever three years you could replace the netbook with the money you would save from using the Ooma. Hopefully majic jack will develop where you do not need the computer to make or receive calls. jerome

[Bob-KhaHan 1]

The $119 per year is for their premium services, which it optional. Also, you can take it anywhere in the world. The company even recommends doing that.

Edited February 23, 2010 by Bob-KhaHan

[BinhJerome 14]

The $119 per year is for their premium services, which it optional. Also, you can take it anywhere in the world. The company even recommends doing that.

What does it cost for the non premium services, when I looked the only price I got was the $119. I am actually paid up for 3 years on my majic jack so for now I plan on sticking with it, but what you are talking about sounds as good. Jerome

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

The cost comparison is misleading, and may even be deceptive. The Ooma is a VoIP device that connects to an existing high speed internet connection. It presumes that if it were not for the VoIP access, there would be no computer powered on and attached to the home network. Who would have a high speed internet connection and NOT have a computer? When a person is talking over a VoIP connection, what percentage of the time would they ALSO be using a computer for internet access? Shouldn't it also have been fair to compare computer + Ooma and computer + MagicJack?

If you planned to use a MagicJack to replace a home telephone, then I can understand the comparison - you wouldn't have to leave your computer on 24 hours a day so that you could receive calls. However, nobody in Vietnam is going to use either an Ooma or MagicJack to replace their mobile phone. You can't use either of them to make low cost calls to other phones in Vietnam (calls to phones in Vietnam with an Ooma are 22 cents per minute). They would only use either an Ooma or MagicJack to send and receive calls to/from the US. Unless they stay home 24 hours a day, there's not much point in leaving either device turned on all the time. MagicJack's network will receive voice mail when the device isn't turned on.

It seems to me that Ooma just adds one more computer to your home network, albeit a low power computer, and that additional computer can only be used for VoIP phone calls. MagicJack uses the same computer you're already using to access the internet. The Ooma only seems to have an advantage if you intend to leave it on 24 hours a day.

BTW, MagicJack works fine with a netbook. Phuong used hers with a Lenovo netbook.

[lindal24 1]

I used mine with my Acer Netbook...worked fine for me too.

[SuperDuper! 230]

I read that you can bring the Magic Jack unit over seas and basically acts like a US phone#. All you would need is a computer and high speed internet connection. It's like 20 bucks a year. You can call Vietnam as if it was regular US phone number and vice versa. I'm not sure if they log calls for paperwork purposes, but I think it's a get way just to call. does anyone know more about this. I was reading it on magichack.com. I think it's pretty cool.

Yes, to call log or not to call log, that is the question.

I wanted professional looking call logs from the cable phone co. Got a decent minute rate, and logs in the mail every month, so I could just drop it in the ongoing relationship proof file. I need easy in my life where I can get it, and am willing to pay a reasonable fee for it.

MJ looks like a good option for the fiancee or wife that lives in an area with a high speed internet connection.

[BinhJerome 14]

Yes, to call log or not to call log, that is the question.

I wanted professional looking call logs from the cable phone co. Got a decent minute rate, and logs in the mail every month, so I could just drop it in the ongoing relationship proof file. I need easy in my life where I can get it, and am willing to pay a reasonable fee for it.

MJ looks like a good option for the fiancee or wife that lives in an area with a high speed internet connection.

Majic Jack records all incoming and outgoing calls on the call log, with the duration, I am sure you can print it off or at least do a screen shot and print them off that way, might not be as "professional" as some people want, but it has date, time, call length number and who called who. Jerome

[rsn 135]

Keep in mind that you don't need a blazing fast internet connection to use this in theory. In fact, the slowest "broadband" internet connection available should be more the sufficient, assuming you are not sending or receiving a lot of data elsewhere on your network during your conversation. Depending on the compression used by Magic Jack, I would guess that a maximum of about 64 kbps would be needed in both directions. I would be surprised to find any non-dialup home internet connections that didn't provide at least 5 times this number in both directions.

Edited February 23, 2010 by rsn

[fox fox 5]

I love the magic jack. with my new home phone and cell phone configuration, it saves me over $75 a month.

If the user does not have good internet service, the magic jack won't be of much use. I sent one to my fiance when she was in the Philippines. Her internet service was terrible. She didn't have a huge problem understanding me, but I could almost never understand what she was saying.

If you do get one, I suggest you play with the settings. I found that my results were better when I changed the settings to the "3G" selection, rather than the "Hi-speed".

I would also suggest that if you're a frequent multi tasking computer user or if you are easily annoyed with being disturbed while using your computer to get a dedicated computer for the magic jack. I found that I had hung up on ringing incoming calls while i was typing on the keyboard...or when my fiance is done making a phone call, my computer game is interupted from the magicjack pop-up screen.

you will save enough money with it to be able to afford a dedicated computer....even a nettop computer only costs $200 new...

likely my next purchase if i can't find an old laptop to do the job.